When lawmakers in the last few decades pushed through tough laws intended to assist with the war on drugs, little attention was given to what might happen in the future. In his New York University Law review article, law professor Michael Pinard delves deep into how such laws continue to have a negative impact on formerly incarcerated persons, especially people of color.
Comparing the U.S. with England, Canada and South Africa, counties that also have a history of locking up a disproportionate number of people of color, Pinard asserts that America’s criminal justice system is by far the harshest, in terms of collateral consequences. The article four sections discusses:
A need for a comparative examination of collateral consequences
Race, dignity, and collateral consequences
Obstacles to comparative analysis
Selection of countries for comparative
Pinard looks at the areas of housing, employment, public, benefits and voting for his comparisons. Pinard details how the U.S. can work to improve the dignity of formerly incarcerated persons, adjust collateral consequences to the offense committed, diminish legal penalties associated with a criminal conviction, and examine how the disproportionate incarceration of people of color in America relates to collateral consequences.
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